Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
